


Divination and Deviation

by Tsughi



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-28
Updated: 2014-10-28
Packaged: 2018-02-22 23:19:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2525417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tsughi/pseuds/Tsughi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone knows the tale of the life and times of the Shepard. It really is no surprise to any observer what his life will entail as they have seen the story unfold so many times before. It's when things start happening... A little differently that all bets come off.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Divination and Deviation

The beat was quick, a pounding in the soul. Being underneath the flashing pulsating lights, dazzling the eye with it's beams and swirling patterns, was almost soothing. The roar of the music that danced on a person's veins and vibrated through a soul was but a mere purr in the background. The dancers with their smiles and seductive looks, their hands that beckoned and skipped and blazed across their own revealed skin... They didn't even seem real, more like dolls with unfamiliar faces that giggled and flounced with strangers. It was funny, how people- that lived, that breathed, that dreamed, that loved- could so easily become an object underneath a non-observant eye.

Sitting at the bar, enveloped in the otherworldliness of what was partaking around him with the hoards of people dancing, gyrating, and glimmering underneath the myriad of colors that exploded from somewhere above, he was lost. Thoughts came and went, pondering being combed over with fingers that couldn't quite catch them in the haziness and smog. They were like water flowing constantly and never stopping and impossible to impede with mere hands alone. It was almost welcomed, as it was far better than the alternative of having to face the reality that was taking place outside of these colorful walls, out from under the nonjudgmental lights that flickered with hopes as well as hues from all parts of the rainbow, even perhaps the ones that the human eye could not quite discern without aid.

"You going to order anything else?" The disharmonious voice sounded from somewhere behind him, somehow fighting its way through the fog and clouds that had muddled around his brain and ears. Tearing his gaze away from the view of the dancefloor and other patrons, those jubiously indifferent to the matters not taking place directly around them, was the familiar sensation of staring at something for far too long where your eyes become comfortable and rested because you weren't really looking at anything at all.

The Salarian who blinked at him -it was always mildly disconcerting to watch their blinking eyelids move from the bottom to the top instead of the other way around like a human- was a brilliant green color, the silver and white speckles on the skin catching the bright lights and making him dazzle with shades from all over the spectrum.... All somehow colliding just the right way on the battlefield of his skin. His large eyes stared at him with purple... No, green... No red… No, It was impossible to tell and the human gave up on trying to guess, but the Salarian looked at him with a tentative mixture of expectation and possible concern.

"Yeah," The human's voice came out, soft and small, too small for the environment that now threatened to smother and consume his own words. He took a brief pause to clear his throat, as though it would aid him and return his speech. "Surprise me."

Hesitating only for a moment, the shapes the lights made spinning and glistening over the large unknown color eyes, the Salarian brought another container out from underneath the counter. A spare thought drifted by, asking and wondering for the human just how many bottles and containers and glasses of what kind of shapes colors and sizes were undeath there, but at the sound of another drink being poured, the light jingle and dripping sound of liquid falling into a glass, the thought vanished with only a hint of it ever being there, leaving the human grasping at the straws of his mind once more.

"What is it?" He asked as the salarian tapered off the drink, which the human notably did not attempt to gauge the color of.

"Weeping Heart," The bartender said simply, closing off the container with a soft click before hiding it underneath the counter with all the other mysterious concoctions and potions. Leaning on the polished black (marble? wood? who really knew or cared), the green salarian gazed over at him with his disarming eyes that openly displayed his concern. "Unique in that it has-"

"Drell venom," the human finished as he pulled the glass and its contents over to himself. The salarian paused in his little explanation, the words stopping as quickly as if the human had shoved a cork right into his thin lipped mouth while it was open.

"Right. Familiar?" The inquiry brought a small ghost of a smile to the humans lips as he cradled the drink in his hands, feeling the coolness of the liquid through the glass. The liquid's surface bounced and arched with waves casting light in every direction, just as wild as an ocean dissatisfied with being contained within such a simple container. Looking down at it and letting the glimmer play with his eyes for a pleasant moment, the human let out a puff of air, a vague and disillusioned cousin to a chuckle.

"Something like that," He said as he held the drink up. The human looked at the salarian, and with all the solemn mirth he could muster raised the glass up in a mockery of a toast.

As the liquid shot down his throat, he knew what would come in the next few minutes: the cool temperatured heaviness and stuttering pump that will settle over his heart as it moved through his veins; the tingling sensation that would creep into his appendages as though they all had slowly fallen asleep; the blurring and swirling and stirring of his thoughts, his feelings, and his sensations...

Pretty soon, Shawn Shepard would not even be able to tell you who he was.

And with that he thanked the Salarian, payed for the drinks he had, and pushed away from the bar counter and into the throng of strangers who seemed all too happy to let him forget.

**Author's Note:**

> So, hello one and all! I'm pretty excited to get this ball rolling and share everything I have done with you guys. It's my first tribute to the Mass Effect trilogy so bare with me if I confuse or muddle any facts and feel free to gently remind me if you notice anything in particular that is wrong. I will be taking a couple of liberties with things not entirely official or mentioned as being canon, but I will be trying to stick as close as possible to the universe as is.
> 
> As mentioned in the tags, this will not strictly follow the canon storyline of the games (I think we are a little bit tired of reading the same story over and over again just with different pairings being highlighted). So it's taken me a little while to figure out where I want to go with the story because I really do love the rich and fleshed out universe Bioware has made, and I would be loathe to do a complete AU. I've figured out a way to compromise however ;)
> 
> Keep in mind that the Tags for this fiction will change because I like things being a surprise! Probably won't be able to keep up suspense for long, and I will tag things as they come up, like very common triggers for convenience. I dunno, see how many viewers I can get as I chug along.
> 
> XOXOXO!!!


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